Page 282 - Harnessing the Management Secrets of Disney in Your Company

Dream, Believe, Dare, Do 263

as Leader over three decades ago. Men’s Wearhouse employees also become
servant leaders, and they hold one another accountable to that end. They know
that people enter their doors often with very little knowledge of buying suits,
and yet they treat each customer as a unique individual who, like a friend, just
stopped by for some good advice from someone who facilitates, not forces, a
decision. George Zimmer’s special brand of authentic “servant leadership” has
always been critical to the success of Men’s Wearhouse team, and it is now
embedded into the company’s total culture. “In business,” as George Zimmer
told us, “the degree to which you feel your boss and your colleagues are authen-
tic is going to play a great part in how enthusiastically your employees strive to
achieve the goals of the business.”

Believe

It is one thing to say that believing in human potential is worthy of inclu-
sion in a list of business values; it’s quite another to live it. George believes
that, “In order to be successful, you have to create an environment in which
people are able to reach more of their potential more of the time.”
The only way to achieve this is to care about your employees through con-
sistent, and as George told us, “authentic” behaviors. “I wish every employee
would have the opportunity to witness the agony that goes into making the
decisions that affect their lives, primarily in George’s office,” says Eric Lane,
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recently retired president and COO. According to Eric, there is a tremendous
effort on the part of the entire senior management team to support the stores, a
radical shift from the typical retail establishment. “In most organizations,” Eric
told us, “if you are a burned-out merchant, they put you ‘out to pasture,’ and
that means in the stores.” In contrast, Men’s Wearhouse stores are the lifeblood
of the company. As Shlomo Maor, associate vice president of training told us,
“At one time I was a store manager, the highest position that we hired at that
time. Then, I moved from there to district manager, and after that to regional
manager. I found that I couldn’t impact people every day, that they were too far
away. Then I realized that I could do it by developing a training program. So I
started ‘Suits University’ at one of our stores in Atlanta on a Sunday morning.
I came in from 9 to 12 in the morning and worked with people who came to
learn, all on a volunteer basis. What motivates me isn’t money. What motivates
me is when people tell me that a piece they learned in ‘Suits U’ helped them.
I teach them all that they must work together and impact the sales of others.
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That’s how you become successful.” That’s servant leadership in action.